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Hattie helped Petra find her way through the plumber training maze

Hattie helped Petra find her way through the plumber training maze

This information will help you find your way through the confusing plumber training maze, whether you’re male or female.

If you’re a woman, please read till the end, plumbing is a great career for a woman and if you want to become self-employed, seriously consider joining us as a franchise holder and working for yourself without being alone.

In no particular order

 

  • If you think you want to be a plumber (or train in construction), don’t wait; start training as soon as you can. From 16-18 training is fully funded, from 19-24 it is half funded. If you wait till later, you have to find the money yourself
  • We’re not surprised you find the whole training scenario confusing, at the time of writing there are 33 different routes, no standardisation and no map for training ‘fully’
  • If you’re thinking of training at a construction college don’t wait till spring. As far as I’m aware they follow the academic year and start September/October.
  • NVQ is a form of assessment, it doesn’t include any training in itself
  • 6189 is an Apprenticeship course and requires trainees to be in a job, usually the teaching is delivered 2 days a week
  • 6189 includes assessments at NVQ2 level
  • 6035 contains virtually the same learning as the in-college part of the 6189 but the 6189 includes the NVQ2 assessment and portfolio which happen on-site (in real life, like a driving test). NO ASSESSMENTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE 6035
  • There is NO legal requirement to train at any level to become a plumber just working with water and pipes, showers, wet rooms etc (however, we strongly advise you  to train)
  • Training isn’t and (we believe) shouldn’t be something you ‘complete’, in an ideal world, training is ongoing throughout your career
  • It is possible to study 6035 and be assessed at NVQ2 level separately – however, this is not the standard route and most colleges are not set up for it – that means they are unlikely to suggest it and may say it isn’t possible
  • Apprenticeships are as rare as hens teeth for over 18s and usually do not pay enough to keep a financially independent person – they are even more difficult to obtain for women
  • Many construction colleges appear to only offer NVQ assessments as part of the 6189. Check this
  • Private training institutions are far more flexible about how they deliver training as they’re designed for adult learners who usually want to learn quickly
  • Beware of learning too quickly and not allowing time to practice and consolidate your skills fully – this is where confidence and real skills come from. Even if you excel in college and ace all your exams this is no substitute for working out in the world and encountering all the different systems, configurations and problems you will see in the real world. Diagnosis is not included in training as a plumber and will be your most vital skill
  • The standards in private training institutions vary hugely – some literally are get rich quick operations, some function to standards of excellence – do your research
  • The 6035 can usually be studied at night in construction colleges allowing learners to continue in their old job
  • None of the college learning means much without opportunities to practice in real life. The NVQ is an assessment that this learning has occurred, not an end in itself
  • Many construction colleges seem to only offer assessments as part of the 6189.
  • Private training institutions are far more flexible about how they deliver training as they’re designed for adult learners who often need to learn quickly
  • Construction colleges often only offer training that runs to the standard academic year. Many private training institutions allow you to train at your own pace – this is not the same as ‘fast track’
  • Most plumbing companies in UK are too small to effectively provide the apprenticeship opportunities required for the system to work properly. If you think you want to work as a plumber and train at the same time the big employers are the most likely to support you to do this. Go to the big construction companies and social housing or insurance companies who have arrangements with their own maintenance providers.

The 6189 was introduced as the only way to train a few years ago but it rapidly became clear that many people wishing to train are not eligible for Apprenticeships, so the 6035 was created to fill this gap.
Currently the construction industry and it’s training boards have not bitten the bullet about delivering training that has no proper assessment and that doesn’t teach how to apply that knowledge in the real world (the 6035 and some of the courses provided in private training institutions). They have realised that this will only contribute to the numbers of half-trained people purporting to be skilled tradespeople. As we understand, this is being addressed but no decisions about how standards will be established and held to have been made at the time of writing.

If you search around you should be able to find either a college who employs assessors or an assessment company (probably the more expensive option) who will register you for the NVQ2, hand you your portfolio and then come out and visit you (at least twice) for the assessments. We recommend you find them before you begin training so that your path to full competency is clear. The NVQ2 can cost anything from £600 – £2000+ – however, if you are currently unemployed you may be able to access funding for this.
You can practice in your own home and even be assessed there for one of the assessments, not both. Also practice at friend’s houses.
The NVQ2 assessment criteria are usually covered by removing and fitting two bathrooms, but that doesn’t mean that two bathrooms are the only way to do them. Don’t get the assessor out the first time you fit a bathroom, consider that a learning experience, get them to come out when you feel competent.
The portfolio is evidence you collect and record yourself, for example; hot and cold taps as separate items in a variety of situations – written up and with photos that you are in, to show you have completed each of these. They can be part of the bathrooms you are assessed on. The portfolio and assessment do not require you to be perfect, they require you to deal with difficulties and problems effectively.
Construction colleges may be cheaper than training institutions and they may not, private institutions often have better (longer but possibly more expensive) payment plans. Shop around, the quality of training may be down to individual tutors so try and meet them.
Don’t let sales people bamboozle you into training for your NVQ3 and Gas qualifications before you’ve completed the first bit of training (some construction colleges and several private training institutions apply heavy sales techniques). Currently NVQ3 and Gas Training are not required to work as a plumber, although work with gas is heavily regulated). In Scotland the NVQ3 is the minimum required level for plumbing and this standard will be introduced in England but there is currently no process or timescale in place to do that.

Learn and consolidate that learning before taking on more learning. Few people can fully learn a practical skill without extensive practice.

The construction colleges are businesses and many of them are strapped for cash, they want bums on seats the same as the private institutions.

No one we know of provides training in fault diagnosis – except us!

A recent example of one of our plumbers’ diagnostic expertise: A relative of one of our plumbers noticed a musty smell in the bathroom, no one else could smell this. Some months after the smell began a leak appeared from the stones in her chimney breast which backed up against the boiler. It was severe and made a pool on her floor every night.

The relative’s local plumber, regarded as the best plumber in her community and with over 40 years experience was called. He investigated this as a leak from the heating because the boiler was behind where the leak appeared. The relative’s house is old and has walls over 3ft thick. The plumber had to obtain a special long drill to make the repair, this meant the relative waited over 6 weeks before he carried out any work.

Our plumber by chance was visiting when the plumber and his son arrived with their new long drill to drill the thick wall of the chimney breast. They took over two days and several visits to do this and remove and replace the pipework they believed was leaking. This did not solve the problem. Our plumber had not interfered, but at this point she did.

She’d noticed that the leak was below the bathroom – where the smell had been coming from. She removed the boxing near the wc and discovered a very severe, constant drip on the feed to the wc. This had rotted wood and insulation (the cause of the smell). Once this was fixed the leak immediately stopped. This took a couple of hours.

Stopcocks unique training in diagnosis ensures a thorough and systematic approach that saves the plumber time and the customer money and inconvenience. This creates customer loyalty which is essential for self-employed plumbers. It isn’t always possible to diagnose and fix an issue with the first solution attempted, but thorough investigation and detailed thinking is the most effective way of achieving a correct diagnoses.

Read our other blogs on the training situation here https://stopcocks.uk/train-as-a-plumber/ and here https://stopcocks.uk/plumber-training-confusion/

In addition to training in diagnosis Stopcocks Women Plumbers provide a helpline to all our plumbers, no matter how experienced, so that they can discuss problems and come up with the best solution for each individual customer.

We provide this information free because we want to enable more women to become plumbers and because it isn’t available anywhere else. If you like what we do and are interested in self-employment as a Stopcocks franchisee contact us now by calling 0800 8620010 or emailing us at mica@stopcocks.uk

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